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Deconstructing the Documentary

This lesson will ask students to analyze the film, to differentiate between narrative (fiction) and documentary storytelling, and to consider the ways in which all films are constructed by filmmaking decisions. They will ultimately consider the ways in which the final product (this documentary film) might or might not reflect the complete "reality" of the topic it presents.

This video clip of the first few minutes of the documentary, "A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School" provides background information on Bordentown: its creation, its significance, and its affect on black people. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" contains interview excerpts that introduce Bordentown to the audience through the eyes of its students. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" describes how the school assisted blacks in the process of moving from the south to the north. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" explains that blacks were moving to the north in record numbers because of the cruelty of southern whites. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School" uses personal interviews to show the impact Bordentown had on its students, how lucky many of them said they were to attend the school, and the quality of education they received there. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School," describes Bordentown training as "getting the end product as you so choose to have it; that's what life is all about." See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This clip, from the documentary "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School", takes the audience on a mini tour of the campus with one of Bordentown's former students. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" contains photographs and newspaper clippings that show how "James Gregory's academic ambitions for Bordentown would soon be thwarted by Jim Crow creeping north." See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" visits a reunion at Bordentown to show the importance of this school to its students in a natural setting. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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In this video clip, from the documentary "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School", Professor Clement Price explains that "education was the force that was really driving black people." See support materials for a lesson plan.

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In this video clip, from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School", Roger Coffey describes the importance of discipline and values at Bordentown through his own experiences. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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In this video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School", personal interviews explain how Bordentown functioned as a vocational school, providing students with hands on learning through auto-mechanics, butchery, farming, house cleaning, beauty salons, and much more. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School" explains how the unconstitutional ruling of "separate but equal" cast a dark shadow on Bordentown and eventually forced it to close because it was all black and failed to attract white students. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip from the documentary, "A Place out of Time: The Bordentown School," describes exactly how the school was shut down by a veto from the governor and inaction from politicians. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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This video clip of the first few minutes of the documentary, "A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School" provides background information on Bordentown: its creation, its significance, and its affect on black people. See support materials for a lesson plan.

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